Peru Buenaventura: La Zanja 2012 Gold Output Up To 115,000 Oz
27 Juli 2011 - 7:32PM
Dow Jones News
Production at the La Zanja gold mine in Peru's Cajamarca region
could increase to about 110,000 to 115,000 ounces in 2012, the
chief financial officer of precious metals mining company Compania
de Minas Buenaventura SAA (BVN, BUENAVC1.VL), Carlos Galvez,
said.
Buenaventura has a 53.06% stake in La Zanja and U.S.-based
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) has the remaining interest. Operations
at the mine began in September 2010 at an annual production rate of
100,000 ounces of gold.
Galvez said output could increase at La Zanja next year due to
higher grades. "We are reviewing our models," the executive said
Wednesday during a conference call to discuss the company's
second-quarter results.
In the second quarter, La Zanja turned out 36,920 ounces of gold
with a cash operating cost of $304 per ounce.
Buenaventura has several mines in Peru and owns 43.65% of Minera
Yanacocha, South America's largest gold mine. It also has a 19.26%
share in copper producer Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SAA
(CVERDEC1.VL).
The company's equity gold production, including Yanacocha, was
269,778 ounces in the second quarter, up 3% from the same period
last year. Buenaventura's silver output rose 11% year-over-year to
3.73 million ounces and its copper production, including Cerro
Verde, climbed 8% to 17,134 metric tons.
Cerro Verde is majority controlled by Freeport McMoRan Copper
& Gold Inc. (FCX).
Cerro Verde is planning a $3.5 billion expansion project that
will increase throughput to 360,000 metric tons per day from
120,000 metric tons a day.
Buenaventura Chief Executive Roque Benavides said that he hopes
the environmental impact study for the project will be approved
before the end of 2011.
"We hope [it will be approved] by the end of this year, but with
permitting it is always difficult to say," Benavides said.
Buenaventura is Peru's largest publicly traded precious metals
mining company.
-By Ryan Dube, Dow Jones Newswires; 51-1 9454 043 802;
peru@dowjones.com
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